By Alex Hill (UBC Okanagan)
Background
The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will be the largest and most powerful radio telescope in the world with one of the broadest science cases of any observatory. Consisting of two under-construction telescopes, SKA-Low in Western Australia and SKA-Mid in southern Africa, early science data from the SKA Observatory (SKAO) will be available in 2027 and shared-risk observations will begin in 2029. On June 3, 2024, Canada joined the SKAO as a full member. Canada is ramping up hires at both postdoctoral and permanent levels, and science working groups are planning for SKA observations in earnest. SKAO has produced a “Year in the Life of the SKA” document describing the detailed capabilities of the observatory in steady-state operations. There are fourteen science working groups, all of which are open to new members. The science working groups are actively working on contributions to an updated volume of the 2014 book “Advancing Astrophysics with the Square Kilometre Array”.
Project timeline and construction update
Both SKA telescopes are now under construction in southern Africa and Western Australia. The baseline design is for SKA-Mid (which will incorporate the MeerKAT array) to comprise 197 fully steerable dishes (Array Assembly 4, AA4) in South Africa operating from 0.35 – 15.4 GHz, of which 144 (AA*) are currently funded. SKA-Low will consist of more than 100k stationary antennas spread across 512 stations (baseline AA4) or 307 stations (funded AA*) in Western Australia operating from 50 – 350 MHz. SKAO released a “first glimpse image” from 1024 antennas of SKA-Low, showing 25 deg^2, in March 2025.
Construction will proceed in phases, with the timeline published by SKAO and updated at the SKA Science Meeting held June 16–20 in Görlitz, Germany. The first science verification data are expected for SKA-Low in 2027 and SKA-Mid in 2029, and science verification operations are expected for SKA-Low in 2029 and SKA-Mid in 2031. Cycle 0 shared risk PI observations are planned for 2030 (SKA-Low) and 2032 (SKA-Mid).
SKA Observatory
Canadian membership
On June 3, 2024, Canada joined the SKAO as a full member. The total government investment is $285M over 8 years, with the aim of securing a 6% observing share. The National Research Council (NRC) represents Canada in governance matters. Dr Kristine Spekkens (Queen’s) is the Canadian SKA Science Director and Dr Michael Rupen (NRC) is the Canadian SKA Program Lead. Dr Rupen and Dr Luc Simard (NRC) are Canada’s members on the SKA Council, while Dr Spekkens chairs the SKAO’s Science and Engineering Advisory Committee (SEAC).
SKAO leadership
Dr Naomi McClure-Griffiths was announced as the new SKAO Chief Scientist following the retirement of Dr Robert Braun, the first SKAO Chief Scientist. Dr Braun (a Canadian) has worked on the project since its inception, helping both to define the project and to communicate its scientific potential. The recruitment process for SKAO Chief Scientist is nearing completion, with the new hire anticipated to start this fall. SKAO Director-General Dr Phil Diamond is planning to retire in May 2026; a replacement process is underway. Dr Filippo Zerbi replaced Dr Catherine Cesarsky as chair of the SKAO Council on Feb 3, 2025.
Canadian contributions
Canada’s contributions to SKA take several forms. In addition to cash contributions to overall SKA construction and operations, NRC works with Canadian industry to deliver several critical in-kind contributions. Primary among these is the SKA-Mid Correlator/Beamformer (Mid.CBF), which combines the data from all the telescopes to produce the visibilities used for imaging, and the tied-array beams used for pulsar search and timing and transient studies. The first hardware was delivered to the South African site earlier this year. Mid.CBF is a joint effort by NRC and MDA Space, and has just passed its Final Design Review (May 28-30). The Mid.CBF design is being used for the new ALMA correlator and also forms the basis for the ngVLA’s baseline correlator design. On the SKA front, MDA also provides support for management of the SKA-Mid Central Signal Processor and the SKA-Mid digitizer effort. Finally, NRC is partnering with Nanowave to deliver the cryogenic low noise amplifiers (LNAs) for SKA-Mid Band 2. The LNAs for the first 64 SKA dishes have met all specifications and have been shipped to South Africa.
can|SRC
Apart from these contributions to the physical construction of the telescope, Canada is developing a Canadian SKA Regional Centre (can|SRC) to serve as the interface between astronomers and SKA data. This will be part of the global SKA Regional Centre Network, providing the scientific archive for the telescope and allowing Canadian scientists access both to those data and to analysis tools from the distributed network. can|SRC partners is led by NRC’s Canadian Astronomical Data Centre (CADC) with infrastructure and support provided by the Digital Research Alliance of Canada (DRAC). CADC has hired four new permanent staff for this effort, with one more advertised currently. Canadian input to the international SRCNet Project is through NRC, with CADC’s Dr Chris Willott serving as National Contact, Dr Rupen serving on (and chairing) the SRCNet Resource Board, NRC’s Dr Toby Brown acting as the Project Scientist, and CADC’s Severin Gaudet serving on the SRCNet Advisory Committee. In addition, there are complementary community-led academic initiatives such as CanDIAPL (PI: Renée Hložek, U Toronto) and the NSERC CREATE-funded Radio Astronomy-Driven Education And Training Excellence (RADEATE; PI: Adrian Liu, McGill).
When shared-risk PI projects begin, SKAO will deliver highly processed Observatory Data Products to observers. Users will be able to create Advanced Data Products through the SRCNet.
Canadian SKA Scientists
NRC recently initiated the Canadian SKA Scientists program. These are recent PhD graduates working on SKA-related science at Canadian host universities with funding flowing through the NRC. The first two Canadian SKA Scientists will be McGill University PhD candidate Alice Curtin, and Dr. Fengqiu (Adam) Dong. Ms. Curtin will conduct her research at McGill University and will be mentored by Dr. Jason Hessels. Dr. Dong will conduct his research at York University and will be mentored by Dr. Paul Scholz. The goal is a steady-state of 8-10 SKA Scientists at various institutions around the country. These Scientists will form a network of SKA experts across Canada, both pursuing their own research and supporting other Canadian scientists in the effective use of SKA. The next round will be advertised this fall.
ACACS
The ACURA/CASCA Advisory Committee on the SKA (ACACS) consults with the Canadian astronomical community and provides advice to ACURA, CASCA, and NRC on the needs and priorities of Canadian astronomers during the construction and operation phases of the SKAO. Dr Alex Hill (UBC Okanagan) and Dr Greg Sivakoff serve as co-chairs, and Dr Marie-Lou Gendron-Marsolais (Laval), Dr Alex Koloskov (U New Brunswick), and Dr Jeroen Stil (U Calgary) serve on the committee with ex oficio members from NRC, other CASCA committees, and ACURA. ACACS organizes formal community consultations roughly twice annually (at the CASCA AGM and online in the winter). We also encourage community members to contact any member of the committee.
Images from the SKA meeting that was taking place as this issue went to press!
